Difference between revisions of "We Can Funk"

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*[[Lisa Coleman]] - keyboards and background vocals
 
*[[Lisa Coleman]] - keyboards and background vocals
 
*[[David Coleman]] - oud and finger cymbals
 
*[[David Coleman]] - oud and finger cymbals
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*'''[[Jill Jones]] ''' - vox  [[We Can Fuck]] (uncredited)
 
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'''Unreleased 1986 version'''
 
'''Unreleased 1986 version'''

Revision as of 18:10, 29 June 2017

We Are America   < < < Non-Prince Songs All Prince Songs Unreleased Songs > > >   We Can (Get It On)
We Can Funk

Graffitibridge.jpg

from the album Graffiti Bridge
Purplerain Deluxe.jpg
from the album Purple Rain Deluxe

Ouicanluv album.jpg
from the streamed album Oui Can Luv (as Oui Can Luv)
Song details
Performer: George Clinton & Prince; Andy Allo featuring Prince; Prince & The Revolution
First Released: 20 August 1990 - Graffiti Bridge album
23 June 2017 - Purple Rain Deluxe album
Album(s): Graffiti Bridge

Oui Can Luv
Purple Rain Deluxe

Writer(s): Prince
Producer(s): Prince; Prince (assumed, no credits given); Prince
Live Appearances
First and last live appearance:
Performed regularly on tour:
Performed occasionally in shows:
  • This song is not known to have been performed other than on the Nude Tour and few 1991 one-off performances.

We Can Funk is the seventh track on Prince's 12th album Graffiti Bridge, and is credited as a duet between George Clinton and Prince. The track is also featured in the movie Graffiti Bridge. In 2015, an acoustic version of the track, with some lyrical changes and renamed Oui Can Luv, was included as the eighth track on the acoustic album Oui Can Luv by Andy Allo featuring Prince on acoustic guitar. The original version titled We Can Fuck was released (as We Can F**k) as the tenth track on the From The Vault & Previously Unreleased disc of the Purple Rain Deluxe album in June 2017.

Initial tracking for Prince's original version took place on 31 December 1983 at Sunset Sound, Hollywood, CA, USA, as We Can Fuck (the day after Erotic City and She's Always In My Hair), with additional work the following day, 1 January 1984. Prince later toned down the title and lyrics of the song, and re-recorded the track on 17 June 1986 at the Washington Avenue Warehouse, Eden Prairie, MN, USA (in sequence after Data Bank and Can't Stop This Feeling I Got, the day before recording Girl O' My Dreams). At one point Prince had Micki Free fly to Minneapolis to record lead vocals. It is unclear when this took place and to which version the vocals were added. The 1983 recording was returned to and updated in 1989 at Paisley Park Studios, Chanhassen, MN, USA, and this updated version, without George Clinton on vocals, was included as the sixth track on a 1989 configuration of Graffiti Bridge. George Clinton added vocal overdubs in late 1989-1990, also at Paisley Park Studios, and the final version was included as the seventh track on a 1990 configuration of Graffiti Bridge, where it remained for release.

The track's lyrics mention the Kama Sutra, considered to be the most important work in a long line of Indian erotic literature, written by the Hindu philosopher Vātsyāyana (SymbolSmallerBlue.png later named the first and only album by The NPG Orchestra Kamasutra).

In 2011, a 1:00 video (audio only with a static image) of an acoustic demo of the track recorded by Andy Allo (as Oui Can Luv, with a revised chorus to match) was streamed on her Facebook page, with the tagline "CHECK OUT WHAT EYE FOUND IN PRINCE'S VAULT (Demo recorded in Sacramento on 8/31/11 using ProTools 9 & a Sterling Audio ST69 Mic)", followed a few weeks later by a full-length version of the same track. The track was re-recorded in a similar acoustic version; while specific recording dates for the acoustic re-recording are not known, it is believed to have been recorded in Autumn 2011 to mid-2012 at Paisley Park Studios, Chanhassen, MN, USA, during sessions for Andy Allo's second album Superconductor.


Recording Information
Recording Sessions
Date Studio Additional info
31 December 1983 Sunset Sound, Hollywood, CA, USA Initial tracking (as We Can Fuck)
1 January 1984 Sunset Sound, Hollywood, CA, USA Additional recording and mixing
17 June 1986 Washington Avenue Warehouse, Eden Prairie, MN, USA Initial tracking (as We Can Funk)
Summer 1986 Washington Avenue Warehouse, Eden Prairie, MN, USA Additional recording
Unknown date Paisley Park Studios, Chanhassen, MN, USA Vocal overdubs by Micki Free
1989-1990 Paisley Park Studios, Chanhassen, MN, USA Additional recording (1983 version)
31 August 2011 Unknown location, Sacramento, CA, USA Acoustic recording, as Oui Can Luv, by Andy Allo and Prince
Autumn 2011 to mid-2012 (assumed) Paisley Park Studios, Chanhassen, MN, USA Acoustic re-recording, as Oui Can Luv, by Andy Allo and Prince
Recording Personnel

Graffiti Bridge version


Purple Rain Deluxe version (as We Can F**k)


Unreleased 1986 version


Versions
Released Versions
Title Length Released Version Additional info
We Can Funk 5:28 Graffiti Bridge Studio
We Can F**k 10:17 Purple Rain Deluxe (From The Vault & Previously Unreleased)
Studio original 1983 recording
Broadcasts/streaming (only)
Title Length Released Version Additional info
Oui Can Luv 1:00 Andy Allo Facebook audio stream Demo clip of full-length recording
Oui Can Luv 4:21 Andy Allo Facebook audio stream Demo Full-length recording with some audio problems
Oui Can Luv 4:21 Andy Allo Facebook audio stream Demo Full-length recording with lower levels to eliminate audio problems
Oui Can Luv 4:20 Oui Can Luv Tidal stream Studio Andy Allo featuring Prince
Sampled, Referred to, Quoted in...
Title Length Released Version Additional info
Soulpsychodelicide Studio Unreleased 1989 track; contains musical clips from Graffiti Bridge, The Question Of U, Elephants & Flowers, We Can Funk, The Big Pump, Cloreen Bacon Skin and Oliver's House; see Soulpsychodelicide for details
Unreleased Versions
Title Version Additional Info
We Can Fuck Studio 1983 preliminary version
We Can Funk Studio Initial raw take
We Can Funk Studio Overdubs added
We Can Funk Studio 'Finished' 1986 version
We Can Funk Studio 1989-1990 update of 1983 version with no George Clinton input
We Can Funk Studio Longer 1989-1990 version with slight George Clinton input
We Can Funk Studio 1989-1990 version with significant George Clinton vocal input
We Can Funk Studio Longer version edited for album, with some musical variations
 
Additional Information

See also Trivia

  • As the original title We Can Fuck was considered not suitable to put on the work order sheet, engineer Terry Christian initially labeled the song as "The Dawn". When Prince finished work on the song the next day he retitled it "Moral Majority" on the working order, but that was never the actual title of the song. The 1982 Vanity 6 song with the title Moral Majority nor the 1996 song Welcome 2 The Dawn have anything to do with We Can Funk.

References
We Are America   < < < All Songs Unreleased Songs > > >   We Can (Get It On)